“They must have found the way in where the kurr were entering,” Max said.
“That’s what I saw on the road,” Bo said realizing what he’d seen.
“They must’ve followed us into town,” Britt shouted over the goblin’s screams.
“We need to shut this one up before it attracts more of them,” Kirsten said.
“How are we going to do that?” Bo asked, leaning against the door.
“I’ve got an idea,” Britt said. “On the count of three, we’ll open the door.”
“Are you crazy?!” Max shouted, “Then it’ll be trapped in here with us.”
“Let me finish,” Britt said. “When we open the door, it’ll come tumbling through. One of us will push it further in and very quickly we’ll all hop out of here and close the door behind us, locking it in here.”
They grew silent for a moment, thinking the plan over.
“I think it could work,” Kirsten was the first to say.
“Okay, let’s try it,” Max said.
“Who’s going to push it farther into the room when we open the door?” Bo asked.
“Whoever’s closest to the crack,” Thomas said.
“You’re just saying that because I’m closest to the crack,” Kirsten said.
“No. It makes the most sense,” Britt said. “When we pull the door open, you’ll be the closest one to it. You can quickly push it past us, and we’ll run out together.”
Thinking it over briefly Kirsten said, “Okay, fine. I’ll do it.”
“Okay. I’ll count down from three. We open the door together on one. Is that clear?” Britt asked.
Everyone nodded.
“Three, two, one,” together they pulled open the door and the goblin came barging into the room.
Kirsten stepped back and pushed the creature hard as it came stumbling through the doorway, sending it headlong to the far end of the room. Thomas led them out of the room and Britt grabbed Kirsten by the arm as they dove out of the room, slamming the door behind them.
Falling to the floor, Kirsten heard the clawing and muffled cries of the goblin from the other side of the room. Breathing rapidly and shaking with fear, she said, “Don’t ever ask me to do that again.” She shivered thinking about the goblin’s gray skin, wiry hairs and bloodstained teeth.
“Thanks,” Max and Bo said in unison reaching down and helping her up.
Looking around, Britt said, “Come on, we need to move. We don’t know how many goblins are in here.” She reached down and removed the sword from the dead guard at the foot of the door.
“After you,” Max made a sweeping gesture with his arm.
Britt led them to the end of the hall and the edge of the church’s cavernous sanctuary. She checked to see if the coast was clear before leading them across the short opening, into the hallway where they’d first arrived.
Before following them across, Kirsten looked over to see the room where Rankstine had been with the orb. The door was slightly ajar. Instead of following Britt and the others, she slid over to the doorway. The others didn’t notice her slip away.
Kirsten placed her back against the wall next to the door. She could hear someone or something rummaging around. She leaned over and peeked into the room. Rankstine was lying face down on the ground and a goblin was searching through the shelves, pocketing anything that looked valuable. Kirsten pulled back to stand flat against the wall. She took several deep breaths; she knew what she had to do.
She gathered her strength and stepped out from the wall. She stood in the doorway, yet to her surprise, the goblin didn’t turn around to see her. Instead, it continued to rummage through the shelves, climbing as it searched, pulling books and papers down off the walls. Kirsten quickly and quietly tiptoed into the room, stopping over Rankstine’s body. Keeping her eyes on the goblin, she reached down and fingered the back of his neck for her mother’s necklace. Her fingertips felt the cool chain around his neck. She slipped the chain over his head, pulling the pink sapphire out from under Rankstine’s body. As she took a step back, she froze. The goblin had stopped pulling things off the shelves. It sniffed the air, then turned around laying its eyes on Kirsten.
Kirsten squeaked upon seeing the goblin’s ugly gnarled features. She searched the area around her feet for something to defend herself with. The goblin hopped down from the shelves and stared at her for a moment. Her eyes caught sight of something glinting at Rankstine’s feet. She bolted down for it and the goblin lunged forward at her, arms outstretched ready to grab her. Kirsten’s hands landed on the crystal at Rankstine’s feet and she used it like a sword, lashing its light out at the goblin. To her surprise, the crystal sent a wave of energy out, colliding with the advancing goblin and sending it flying across the room. It splattered against the wall, slumping to the ground unconscious.
Kirsten looked down at the crystal in her hand, Wow. I can’t believe that actually worked.
She pocketed the crystal and before leaving the room grabbed the orb Rankstine had displayed in the corner on the desk. Tucking it under her arm as she exited the room, Kirsten heard her friends calling her.
“Over here,” she answered as she rushed to join them near the side door.
Thomas asked, “What were you doing in there?”
“I went back for mother’s necklace,” she said.
“Did you find it?” he asked.
“I did,” she said. They stopped at the door to exit the church and she pulled the pink-hued sapphire from her pocket. “Rankstine was lying on the ground face down, so I took it off him. I also got these,” she placed the necklace back into her pocket and pulled out the crystal.
Seeing the orb under her arm and the crystal in her other hand, Thomas shook his head smiling, “You’re crazy. You know that?”
She nodded and pocketed the crystal. As they stepped outside to join the others, Kirsten heard shouts of people and roars of kurr. Near the front of the church, they watched a large kurr as it backed its way out into the street, fighting off five goblins with massive swings of its sword.
“We need to get out of here, and fast,” Britt said.
“Follow me,” Kirsten said. “I know a back way out of town.”
